A whole lot of sass and sequins will hit the Bert Church LIVE Theatre (BCLT) Jan. 18, as the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue from Victoria, B.C., takes to the stage. “Burlesque is a really diverse art form,” said troupe member Champagne Sparkles. “We perform kind of a vaudeville style of show [with] singing, dancing, comedy, all centered around the classic art form of strip tease.” This is the first time the Cheesecakes – as they prefer to be called – will be performing in Airdrie. The adult-only (18 and up) show features a variety of bright costumes, fringe and sequins, Sparkles said, as well as “shimmy-shaking, tassel-twirling and that kind of thing.” “We perform pretty heavily on the comedic side. Definitely, people can come to the show expecting to laugh a lot,” she added. Burlesque has been performed since ancient times, according to Sparkles, with its roots stretching back to the Greek theatre of the fifth century BC. The word burlesque, she said, means “parody” and performances often feature political satire. The strip tease element was added to burlesque in the mid-1800s. Nine members of the Cheesecakes will be part of the Airdrie show. The troupe was formed in 2006, after Sparkles decided to take a burlesque workshop with a group of friends – and they found themselves hooked. “We did a full-day workshop with 10 friends and learned about the history of burlesque – it was just an awesome day of ladies getting together and having a great time and feeling good about ourselves,” she said. “We had such a hoot that we decided to do a small show…at a party at a friend’s house. From there, someone else asked us if we’d do a show.” Bookings at clubs in Victoria followed and the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue was born, she added. Promoting body positivity has always been a goal for the troupe, Sparkles said. “We have many sizes, shapes, colours, ages of performers on stage with us. We’re fed an ideal of beauty that people tend to think they’re going to see in an entertainment situation,” she said. “Our troupe has always been, right from the start, very focused on female empowerment…and really feeling good in our bodies on stage.” The performance at BCLT Jan. 18 begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $36 and are available at the box office or online at airdrie.ca Sparkles said she hopes the audience for the Airdrie show would make time after the performance to speak to the troupe members. “We’re a pretty approachable group – we love to come out and talk to the audience afterwards,” she said. “We really love what we do and love to share our art form with people and chat about it.”
